Timeline on the gay rights movement

A look at key moments over the past 50 years in the advancement of gay rights in the United States.

March 24, 2013

• 1960: All 50 states have anti-sodomy laws, many of which target intimate acts between persons of the same sex.

• 1969: Members of the gay community in New York riot after police raid the Stonewall Inn, a bar in Greenwich Village frequented by homosexuals. The demonstrations become a catalyst for the gay liberation movement.

• 1999: The Vermont Supreme Court rules that the traditional definition of marriage discriminates against same-sex couples. It gives the Legislature the option of amending the law or creating a new institution that provides them with the benefits of marriage.

• 2000: After a divisive debate, the Vermont Legislature approves the nation's first civil-union law.

• 2001: 35 states now have provisions defending traditional marriage.

• 2003: US Supreme Court strikes down a Texas anti-sodomy law, decreeing that sexual conduct between consenting adults is off limits to government regulation. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court declares, for the first time, that same-sex couples enjoy a constitutional right to marry.